risk assessment Articles
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Design and analysis of field studies with bees: A critical review of the draft EFSA guidance
The specific protection goal, primary assessment endpoints, acceptable effect thresholds and experimental design proposed in the EFSA update of the bee guidance document are subjected to critical review. It is concluded that the negligible effect criteria were established without sufficient regulatory definition and without convincing scientific argumentation. For the assessment endpoints, ...
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Fugacity and activity analysis of the bioaccumulation and environmental risks of decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5)
As part of an initiative to evaluate commercial chemicals for their effects on human and environmental health, Canada recently evaluated decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5; CAS no. 541‐02‐06), a high–volume production chemical used in many personal care products. The evaluation illustrated the challenges encountered in environmental risk assessments and the need for the development of better ...
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From home range dynamics to population cycles: Validation and realism of a common vole population model for pesticide risk assessment
Despite various attempts to establish population models as standard tools in pesticide risk assessment, population models still receive limited acceptance by risk assessors and authorities in Europe. A main criticism of risk assessors is that population models are often not or not sufficiently validated. Hence the realism of population‐level risk assessments conducted with such models remains ...
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National Petroleum Reserve Site (Occidental Petroleum Co.) - case study
Investigation, remediation, and closure activities Elk Hills, Central California The Summary We've helped establish a statistical methodology using soil data to evaluate and develop a site-specific background concentration for metals that are naturally occurring above screening criteria, but also may be present due to historical site activities. We're also developing the human health risk ...
By AlterEcho
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Public health risk assessment: an Egyptian study of secondary lead smelting and associated risks
The purpose of a public health risk assessment is to provide a baseline assessment of the on- and off-site human health risks that can be associated with past activities from secondary smelting of lead. We apply risk assessment methods to the operations of the Awadalla Secondary Lead Smelter (ASLS), which result in soil, dust, air and water pollution. A baseline study is a snapshot of the risks ...
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Does insecticide drift adversely affect grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Saltatoria) in field margins? A case study combining laboratory acute toxicity testing with field monitoring data
The current terrestrial risk assessment of insecticides regarding nontarget arthropods considers exclusively beneficial organisms, whereas herbivorous insects, such as grasshoppers, are ignored. However, grasshoppers living in field margins or meadows adjacent to crops may potentially be exposed to insecticides due to contact or ingestion of contaminated food. Therefore, the present study ...
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Applying biotic ligand models and Bayesian techniques: Ecological risk assessment of copper and nickel in Tokyo rivers
Biotic ligand models (BLMs) have been broadly accepted and used in ecological risk assessment of heavy metals for toxicity normalization with respect to water chemistry. However, the importance of assessing bioavailability by using BLMs has not been widely recognized among Japanese stakeholders. Failing to consider bioavailability may result in less effective risk management than would be ...
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New test strategy for dung beetles during the authorization process of parasiticides
According to European legislation, an Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) of veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) for dung fauna is required in the authorization process if the substance acts as a parasiticide for the treatment of pasture animals. In the past, however, the demonstration of the environmental safety of those VMPs for dung fauna was strongly hampered by the fact that no ...
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Lessons learned from the Case Study Zagreb Project
The Case Study Zagreb is the title of a project developed in the framework of the Inter-Agency Programme on the Assessment and Management of Health and Environmental Risks from Energy and Other Complex Industrial Systems. The programme, jointly undertaken by four UN organisations (UNEP, WHO, IAEA and UNIDO) aims at promoting and facilitating the implementation of the risk assessment and ...
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Influence diagrams as decision‐making tools for pesticide risk management
The pesticide policy arena is filled with discussion of probabilistic approaches to assess ecological risk, however, similar discussions about implementing formal probabilistic methods in pesticide risk decision making are less common. An influence diagram approach is proposed for ecological risk‐based decisions about pesticide usage. Aside from technical data, pesticide risk management relies on ...
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Quantitative risk assessment for contaminated sites in Spain
Environmental Quantitative Risk Assessment is one of the key factors in the Decision Making Process for contaminated sites. Numerous decisions have to be made before, during and after conducting a quantitative risk assessment.Risk assessment is based on the information gathered previously: Historical information (Phase I) Site characterization (Phase II) Toxicological ...
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NanoValid Publishes “Nano to go!”
In September 2015, “Nano to go!” was published. “Nano to go!” is “a practically oriented guidance on safe handling of nanomaterials and other innovative materials at the workplace.” The German Federal Institute for Occupational Health (BAuA) developed it within the NanoValid project. “Nano to go!” includes the following materials: A brochure, ...
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A site‐specific ecological risk assessment for corn‐associated insecticides
A site‐specific ecological risk assessment (ERA) was conducted to examine the simultaneous use of genetically modified corn (Bt corn) with a neonicotinoid seed coating, clothianidin, and use of a granular insecticide, tefluthrin, to protect crops from pest damage. A field study was conducted on‐site and exposure data from the literature was summarized to determine the matrices and exposure ...
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Ecological risk assessment for mink and short‐tailed shrew exposed to PCBs, dioxins and furans in the Housatonic River area
A probabilistic risk assessment was conducted to characterize risks to a representative piscivorous mammal (mink, Mustela vison) and a representative carnivorous mammal (short‐tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda) exposed to PCBs, dioxins and furans in the Housatonic River area downstream of the General Electric (GE) facility in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Contaminant exposure was estimated using a ...
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Migration and speciation of heavy metal in salinized mine tailings affected by iron mining
The negative effects of heavy metals have aroused much attention due to their high toxicity to human beings. Migration and transformation trend of heavy metals have a close relationship with soil safety. Researching on migration and transformation of heavy metals in tailings can provide a reliable basis for pollution management and ecosystem restoration. Heavy metal speciation plays an ...
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Initial recommendations for higher‐tier risk assessment protocols for bumble bees, Bombus spp. (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
Global declines of bumble bees and other pollinator populations are of concern because of their critical role for crop production and maintenance of wild plant biodiversity. Although the consensus among scientists is that the interaction of many factors, including habitat loss, forage scarcity, diseases, parasites, and pesticides potentially plays a role in causing these declines, pesticides ...
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Application of species sensitivity distribution in aquatic probabilistic ecological risk assessment of cypermethrin: A case study in an urban stream in South China
A tiered ecological risk assessment (ERA) was applied to quantitatively refine the overall probabilistic risk of cypermethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide, to aquatic organisms. These results were then validated through the bioassays using field water from an urban stream, Chebei Creek in Guangzhou, South China. Seventeen water samples were collected along Chebei Creek for evaluation. In total, ...
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A Dynamic Site Investigation: Adaptive Sampling and Analysis Program for Operable Unit 1 at Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, Massachusetts
Abstract In this study, field analytical instrumentation and methods were used to support a risk assessment study at the airfield at Hanscom Air Force Base (HAFB, Bedford, Massachusetts). The site investigation is part of an ongoing effort to determine contaminant risk to ground water from soil. The field tools supported a dynamic workplan/adaptive sampling and analysis demonstration. Over a ...
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A Method of Assessing Air Toxics Concentrations in Urban Areas Using Mobile Platform Measurements
ABSTRACTThe objective of this paper is to demonstrate an approach to characterize the spatial variability in ambient air concentrations using mobile platform measurements. This approach may be useful for air toxics assessments in Environmental Justice applications, epidemiological studies, and environmental health risk assessments. In this study, we developed and applied a method to characterize ...
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Atmospheric environmental impact assessment modelling in France
The most widely accepted model of atmospheric dispersion for impact assessment in France is the Gaussian model of Doury. The Centre d'Etudes Atomiques (CEA) and Electricite de France (EDF) have developed their own software systems, which include several compatible or nested meteorological, trajectory, and dispersion codes. These systems are fitted to the various atmospheric scales from regional ...
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